- action
- noun1 process of doing sthADJECTIVE▪ decisive, effective, firm, strong, vigorous▪
He urged the government to take decisive action against music piracy.
▪ aggressive, violent▪ immediate, prompt, swift, urgent▪ appropriate▪Unless appropriate action is taken, our sales will decline.
▪ drastic, emergency▪The situation calls for drastic action.
▪ collective, concerted, joint, united (esp. BrE)▪ direct, positive, unilateral▪ corrective, evasive, remedial▪ pre-emptive, preventative, preventive▪ disciplinary, legal, military, strike▪Disciplinary action will be taken against students who cheat.
(see also industrial action)▪ congressional (esp. AmE), government, governmental, legislative, political, state (esp. AmE)▪ affirmative (esp. AmE)▪Affirmative action was most successful in creating opportunities for college-educated women.
VERB + ACTION▪ take▪We'll take whatever action is necessary.
▪ call for▪ agree on▪The leaders have agreed on joint action to combat terrorism.
▪ leap into, spring into, swing into▪The emergency services swung into action as soon as the disaster was reported.
▪ carry out, perform▪Only the priest can perform these actions.
▪ galvanize sb into, prod sb into, spur sb into▪We have to galvanize people into action.
▪ bring sth into, put sth into▪We need to put these ideas into action.
▪ keep sb/sth out of, put sb/sth out of▪A fire has put the factory out of action.
PREPOSITION▪ in action▪I have not yet seen the machines in action.
▪ out of action▪He is out of action following an ankle injury.
▪ action against▪action against drug dealers
▪ action on▪The government is taking strong action on refugees.
PHRASES▪ actions speak louder than words (saying)▪ a course of action▪Is this the best course of action to follow?
2 legal caseADJECTIVE▪ court▪ civil, criminal, libel, tort▪ class (AmE)VERB + ACTION▪ bring, file, initiate, take▪I considered taking legal action.
▪They took out a libel action against the newspaper's owners.
▪Her husband brought a civil action against her after their divorce.
PREPOSITION▪ action against3 fightingADJECTIVE▪ combat (esp. AmE), enemy▪He was killed during enemy action.
▪ terrorist▪ covert▪paramilitary covert action teams working overseas
VERB + ACTION▪ see▪I never saw action during the war.
PHRASES▪ killed in action, missing in action, wounded in action▪He was reported missing in action.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.